Tick, tock....

Tick, tock....

Tick, tock...

Jessica scrunched up her face as she looked at the blank screen in front of her.

Tick, tock...

Tick, tock...

She looked up at one of the many clocks in the room she was in.

"Damn it." Jessica mumbled as she noticed that she'd been looking at the blank screen for the last hour.

Tick, tock...

Jessica stood up quickly and walked to the table of food. 'Now is as good as time as any for a break' she thought to herself as she made her way to get some refreshment. As she poured herself a cup of coffee she slowly shook her head trying to come up with new ideas for her newest book. Ever since the success of "A Public Secret" there had been a lot of pressure on her to finish her next book, but she seemed unable to think up any good ideas. Once the coffee was made she slowly returned to the dusty old sofa that was her preferred place to write.

Around the room were other people. Jessica took time to take in her surroundings, looking for some inspiration. A family of four with a dog sat around a nearby coffee table talking to one another, a pair of old women sat by the windows looking out to the harbor below and a group of students sat on a collection of sofa's and armchairs working on what looked like a group projects. The cafe was unconventional to say the least. Old furniture was spread about everywhere; there were no staff; everything was free.

For the last few months, Ziferblat had become Jessica's second home. She found it freeing to work in this kind of environment, paying only for the time she spent rather than the goods provided. Her first book was finished sat in this strange place, lounging on the sofa's and listening to the hum of Albert Dock around her. She had always liked the Docks, they were her favorite part about the city. Even after being there for many months she still was surprised everyday by the people she saw.

The money Jessica earned from her book had allowed her to move to Liverpool, if only for a short period of time. The city had allowed for her creativity to flow, from its interesting history to its multicultural society, She was scheduled to move to Korea in three months. Ever since studying there for a year during her degree she had wanted to go back. Being part Korean, Jessica had always had a connection with the country in her heart. From its music to its food there was not one part of it she disliked. Well there was one part.

To ease her boredom from sitting and looking at a blank screen Jessica decided to check the news.

'SOUTH KOREA STILL IN TURMOIL'

She sighed.

'GIRLS' GENERATION MEMBERS LOCATIONS STILL UNKNOWN'

Jessica hated what was happening to her future home. First the President is impeached and then one of her favorite bands goes into hiding. It seemed like everything that could go wrong had. Subconsciously, her mind drifted to her favorite artists.

"I wonder where they are?" Jessica mumbled to herself, thinking about all the places that they could be hiding.

She sat in deep thought for a couple of minutes until some new people entering the cafe broke her from her dreamlike state. Jessica looked towards the door to see who the new people were. Three people walked in, they were all foreign.

"Probably just tourists." she muttered as the three sat down at the sofa next to hers.

------------

An hour earlier

The station was alive with activity. Commuters ran in every direction as the sounds of trains pulling away filled to air. The smell of a sandwich shop caught the attention of the youngest of the group. She stopped and turned to look in the window, her soft face broke out into a large grin as she looked at all the food on display. From behind she felt a tap on her shoulder but she ignored it, her stomach made a loud rumbling noise as she unconsciously moved her hand to rest against it. There was another tap on her shoulder but still, she didn't move.

"We need to get moving." 

"Can't we eat first?" The girl asked pleadingly without turning round.

A second, lower voice, spoke up. "Someone might recognized us here."

The girl turned around around and looked a the other two before her face became a cute pout.

"But Unnieees..." she wined in a voice much higher than her natural tone.

The older two girls turned to each other and smiled before the shorter of the two looked back with a soft expression.

"Don't worry Seo, we'll get something as soon as we leave the station."

"Alright Tae." Seohyun replied. Her voice showed a hint of sadness.

The journey from London to Liverpool had been a stressful one. They had nearly missed their train at Paddington because of a mix up with the tickets, and delays had almost caused them to miss the change over station. After five hours of traveling on the train, all they wanted to do was get something to replenish their strength, but after what happened the last time they stayed in a busy place too long they decided to leave.

They walked out of the station and slowly made their way to a quieter part of the city, keeping there faces hidden as much as possible so that they couldn't be easily seen by anyone who might have recognized them. After walking for what seemed like hours the three came across to a shore line and a harbor. 

"Why don't we head that way?" Seohyun said as she pointed to a collection of red brick buildings further down the shore.

"Could do." Taeyeon responded.

"Maybe we could find a cafe!" Seohyun excitedly shouted out

"You always think with your stomach Seo."

"You do too Fany!" The younger girl said playfully with a wink.

"Yah!" Tiffany shouted in response.

Taeyeon chuckled at her friends antics, "Careful you two, we don't want everyone to think we're crazy." 

Tiffany and Seohyun both pouted as Taeyeon started to walk toward the direction of the buildings. The younger two then started to walk behind her discussing what food they would be getting once they found a place to eat.

It turned out that the red buildings were actually a dock. As they walked towards the entrance way Tiffany read the sign aloud.

"Albert Dock." She said in perfect English.

"Albert who?"

Tiffany broke out laughing and Seohyun giggled. "It's the name of the Dock, Tae!" Tiffany said, almost unable to speak from laughing so much.

Taeyeon's cheeks flushed bright pink as she realized her mistake. "Pabo!", she muttered under her breath, a way of scolding herself.

Once the other two recomposed themselves the trio headed into dock complex. They all stopped to admire the Tate Liverpool as they walked past it, before moving along the edge of the dock towards a row of cafes. To the girls annoyance the cafes all seemed really busy.

"Why do they all have to be full?" Tiffany complained.

"Let's keep checking." Seohyun reassured her senior.

As they made there way further down the dock they walked past a couple of gift shops before stopping in front of what looked like a cafe. The cafe seemed to be empty so they decided to make their way inside. They were right, the cafe was empty. The only other people there were a family, a pair of old women, a group of students and a lone person working at a computer. 

Tiffany led them into the cafe and sat down on a sofa near the center of the room. The others soon joined her on the sofa and Taeyeon noticed the girl sat on the sofa near them, working at her computer.